UAVs-assisted Data Collection in Vehicular Network

Abstract

In vehicular network, nodes generate and transmit timely measured data by embedded sensors. Some data needs to be gathered by remote devices. The limited communication range of the vehicular wireless system requires to proceed through multi-hop data routing to collect periodic fresh data. The hop-by-hop based data journey and the dynamic topology increase the overall packet delivery delay, as well as the packet loss ratio. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) could be used in relaying vehicular data, particularly for sparse networks. Once they join the network, they are considered as normal network nodes however with some specific link characteristics. In this paper, a link-aware data collection approach is investigated. More precisely, an optimization problem maximizing a weighted multiobjective utility including the wireless link data rate, the wireless link stability, and the data progress towards the destination is formulated and solved using a Distributed Minimum Spanning Forest (DMSF) approach. The outcomes of the proposed approach and the impact of the UAVs assistance are evaluated. The present approach outperforms the other algorithms and the usage UAVs enhances the DMSF-based solution especially for low-density network.